Motor vehicles designed for carrying passengers usually have a separate area for carrying a variety of items including a spare tire, jack, jumper cables, spare cans of oil or brake fluid, a container of windshield washer solvent, etc.. Often the separate storage area is known as a trunk and is designed as an integral part of the vehicle.
However, some passenger vehicles do not have a trunk. Generally, vehicles known as station wagons or hatchbacks do not have a trunk. Such vehicles generally do have a separate space inside the vehicle for storing a spare tire and a jack. However, the separate storage area in such vehicles is generally relatively small and does not have enough space for storing other items mentioned above once the spare tire and jack are in the storage area.
Although station wagons and hatchbacks have plenty of storage space generally, a storage container having adequate space for storing miscellaneous items such as jumper cables, spare cans of motor oil or brake fluid or liquid coolant or transmission fluid, wheel chocks, spare parts, a container of windshield washer solvent, etc. is generally not provided inside the vehicle.
To maximize the available storage space in a separate storage container for a station wagon or hatchback and, at the same time, to minimize the amount of space subtracted from the general storage space inside the vehicle, it would be desirable to provide a separate storage container that fits on the vehicle floor behind the back passenger seat of the vehicle and that is oriented parallel to the back seat. However, simply placing a storage container on the floor behind the back seat of a vehicle would not be satisfactory. When an automobile rides along a road, it often encounters bumps in the road which jostle the automobile and would jostle a container in the automobile. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a storage container that resists vertical displacement when bumps in the road are encountered by the vehicle.
Other forces that tend to move a separate storage container in an automobile are the forces experienced when the automobile accelerates, decelerates, and encounters curves in the road. When curves in the road are encountered, centrifugal force would tend to displace a separate storage container laterally within the automobile. It would be desirable to provide a separate storage container for a station wagon or hatchback that resists horizontal displacement due to linear acceleration, deceleration, and centrifugal forces.
Centrifugal force on a container and its contents may also tend to displace the container toward the rear of the automobile. In other words, the container may tend to slide toward the rear of the station wagon or hatchback when curves are encountered. This is so because an unequal distribution of weight inside the container will permit the development of torque to be exerted on the container under the influence of centrifugal force. When torque occurs, the container will tend to slide around a pivot point and in doing so will tend to slide toward the rear of the vehicle.
There are many station wagons and hatchbacks available in both the new and used car market. The interior dimensions of such vehicles show a wide range. More particularly, the width of the interior dimension behind the back seat of a station wagon or hatchback can be markedly different from one vehicle to another. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a separate storage container for a station wagon or hatchback that can be adjusted to a variety of different interior vehicle dimensions.
Adjustable containers are known. More specifically, adjustable containers that have two telescopic parts are also known. By adjusting the relative relationship between the telescopic parts, the size of the adjustable container can be adapted to a variety of dimensions. For example, a telescopically adjustable window refrigerator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,203,380. A telescopically adjustable mailbox is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,640.
More specifically with respect to motor vehicles, telescopically adjustable storage devices are known. For example, a telescopically adjustable luggage rack installed outside of the automobile is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,904,114. Another telescopically adjustable luggage rack for an automobile is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,817,107.
However, with respect to a telescopically adjustable separate storage container for the interior of a station wagon, the prior art is almost completely lacking. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,781, a collapsible container for a station wagon has telescoping parts that are adjustable along the lengthwise dimension of the automobile. The container rests essentially in the middle of the station wagon floor; and there is no provision for prohibiting vertical or displacement.
Another device is shown in the prior art for increasing the storage space inside a station wagon. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,896 discloses a removable shelf installed inside a station wagon. However, this device has no telescoping feature, and its size cannot be adjusted to the width of the inside of the automobile.
A telescopically adjustable container installed on the bed of a pickup truck just behind the cab of the truck is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,011. The container shown in this patent is telescopically adjustable along the width of the bed of the truck.
However, the storage container shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,011 would not be suitable for use inside a station wagon or hatchback automobile for several reasons. First, there is no provision in U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,011 for preventing vertical displacement when bumps in the road are encountered. The horizontal portion 16' of end wall 16 forms a shoulder 48 which acts as an upper support for the container. When bumps are encountered in the road, no structure of the container prevents the container from being displaced vertically.
A second reason why U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,011 would not be suitable for use inside a station wagon or hatchback is that there is no provision for preventing the container from sliding horizontally toward the rear of the pickup truck bed under the influence of acceleration, deceleration, and centrifugal force and the torques exerted by the centrifugal force. Actually, the container in this patent appears to be particularly susceptible to sliding under the influence of horizontal forces. It is noted that the shoulder 48 is a smooth horizontal surface, and the top of the side wall of the pickup truck also appears to be a smooth horizontal surface. Two smooth horizontal surfaces in contact with one another are readily susceptible to a sliding motion therebetween.
Furthermore, with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,011, the hollow legs 24 have smooth bottom horizontal surfaces that are in contact with the horizontal bed of the pickup truck. The smooth bottom horizontal surface would tend to slide along the horizontal bed of the pickup truck under the influence of horizontal, acceleration, deceleration, and centrifugal forces.
Therefore, although U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,011 may be suitable for use as a storage container for the bed of a pickup truck, it would not be suitable as a storage container for use inside a station wagon or hatchback.
Another deficiency in the prior art storage containers for the interior of a station wagon or hatchback is the failure to design the storage container to provide additional passenger seating spaces for the vehicle. For example, often times little children enjoy riding in the rear area of a station wagon. Such children may like to sit on small seats if they were provided in the storage area. It would be desirable if the storage container could also serve as a seating area for small children.